EVANSVILLE — Property tax rates for the Evansville Vanderburgh School Corp. are projected to increase nearly 7 cents for 2012, according to the budget plan approved Monday night by the School Board.
EVSC officials say falling assessed valuation in Vanderburgh County and cuts in state education funding are culprits in the expected tax rate of 67 cents per $100 assessed valuation. This year’s rate is just more than 60 cents.
The budget, which was approved in a 6-0 School Board vote (Patricia Swanson was absent), includes no layoffs and no funding for salary increases.
EVSC officials estimate that over the last three years, the corporation’s budget has absorbed about $18 million in cuts from a general fund that is projected to stand at $153 million next year.
That account supports most EVSC employees, programs and operations costs.
Board member Sally Becker asked Superintendent David Smith if more state cuts could be forthcoming. Smith said he didn’t think so, but the school district must continue to be efficient.
“I certainly hope that there is not another shoe to drop,” Smith said.
The school district next year will made $14 million in debt service payments and pay for about $21.5 million worth of capital projects. EVSC’s capital projects budget totaled $27.2 million as recently as two years ago.
Also Monday, the School Board:
* Heard an overview of a survey of parents, staff and students conducted earlier this year by Diehl Evaluation and Consulting Services of Evansville.
EVSC officials pointed to year-to-year progress on questions related to family engagement with schools, and specifically on the ability of families to contact school staff.
The survey also included questions about school climate and perceptions of school quality.
Susan McDowell Riley, deputy superintendent for Academic Affairs and Accountability, said school-by-school survey results have been discussed with principals, who are now using them to improve any areas of concern.
Riley told the board that one message the school district wants to convey is that parents “are very welcome to come into the classroom” during the school day.
The survey brought a response rate of 72 percent among staff, 89 percent among students and 31 percent among families. Consultant Dan Diehl said the family response “wasn’t what we wanted to see but pretty stable from the prior year.”
School Board President Bix Branson asked Diehl what could be done to improve the family response rate.
Diehl said one school which sent a letter home about the survey got a return of about 70 percent, and “it certainly seemed like that worked for that particular school.”
* Recognized two Glenwood Leadership Academy students for their efforts in helping younger students evacuate a school bus recently when a fire extinguisher discharged as the bus was traveling on Riverside Drive.
Tamaje Blackwell, a seventh-grader, and Skyler Lanham, a fifth-grader, were riding home on Bill Edwards’ bus when a musical instrument case on the floor bumped against the extinguisher, broke its seal and held down its handle.
Edwards saw the steam and immediately stopped the bus and began evacuating from the rear door. He said many students on board were young and were frightened; some of them at the front did not move.
Skyler went to the front and advised younger children to follow him off the bus.
One young girl, however, still stayed in her seat and was crying. Tamaje, as he was leaving the bus, looked back and noticed her. He picked the girl up, covered her nose and mouth with his shirt to shield her from the fumes, and carried her off the bus.
The entire scene was captured on bus video.
EVSC Transportation Director Mike Mentzel gave the two students certificates recognizing “Heroic and Courageous Behavior.”
